A Sunday letter signed by several high-ranking ministers addressed to President Isaac Herzog stressed the societal calamities brought on by the criminal corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, implying that the president should use his power to offer the prime minister a plea bargain.
The letter, published on Tuesday, marks an escalation in the efforts to halt the trial, which began in 2020 and is currently in the stage of cross-examination. Once the prosecution concludes, the judges will convene to author a verdict. This is expected to take at least a year to complete.
The wording of the letter is careful in that it doesn’t outright call for a pardon, but rather it hints at Herzog’s power to move the needle.
Until now, public calls have been made – by some factions of the public, members of the coalition, and even by US President Donald Trump – for Herzog to step in and halt the trial, arguing that it has ballooned past the realm of justice and now affects too many aspects of Israeli society.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in three cases – 1000, 2000, and 4000 – on the charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The trial began in 2020; the prime minister has pleaded not guilty to all three.
Bribery is the heaviest of the three.
The letter references a call made by the judges tending to the case to remove the charge of bribery. This happened in 2023, after the panel of judges handling the trial (Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham) held a closed-door meeting with the prosecution and defense.
They said after – with caution – that they believed there would be difficulties in establishing bribery. The prosecution did not agree to withdraw the charge, and the trial continued.
Herzog is aware of the effects the trial has had on Israeli society and, for months, has been urging both sides to come to some kind of resolution.
While the executive power to grant a pardon lies with the president, it is contingent on specific conditions, such as a verdict, as well as a request from Netanyahu – none of which are met by the situation at hand.
The letter opens by singing Israel’s military praises and its impending victory – which, the ministers claim, is contingent on “true and ironclad unity.”
The key to this unity lies with Herzog, they wrote. “The government, under Netanyahu’s leadership, has seen immense victory over our enemies, as world leaders stare awestruck at the historic and unprecedented authority of the prime minister. He is loved and admired by all members of the faith-based nationalist camp.”
Likud is the largest political party in Israel, with its base made up of many who hold conservative outlooks, yet ranging on the religious scale from devout to secular. National elections are on the horizon, and primary elections for the party are estimated even sooner.
KAN reported on Wednesday that people from Netanyahu’s team had a hand in the formulation and drafting of the letter.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre of communities on Israel’s southern border caught Jerusalem by complete surprise, left 1,200 people dead, and saw 251 kidnapped into Gaza.
Only last week were the last remaining live hostages returned in a deal steered and led by Trump, as over a dozen bodies of slain hostages remain held by Hamas. The terrorist group has claimed it faces difficulties in recovering the bodies due to the extensive damage caused by Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
The societal schism deepened as the war continued, splitting folks on issues of the nature of the military campaign, the hostage deals, the “day after” in Gaza, and the consequences to Israel’s global image.
But the split was there long before that, chiefly due to the controversial judicial reform legislation which began in 2022, and – according to some – dating all the way back to 2019, when the indictment against Netanyahu was issued. Many saw incongruence with a prime minister under criminal charges continuing to lead the country without the trial affecting his judgment.
<strong>Content of the letter</strong><br>
The letter also read, “Sadly, it is clear to everyone today that the prolongation of the trial is a bleeding wound in Israeli society. Unity cannot be possible while it continues.”
The ministers quoted Trump, who posted to his Truth Social platform in June, “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State (of Israel). Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me.”
The letter was authored by Likud members: Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Tourism Minister Haim Katz, Minister for Tourism; Construction and Housing, Health and Welfare and Social Affairs, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Sports and Culture Minister Miki Zohar, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen, Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli, Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, Agriculture and Raw Food Security Minister Avi Dichter, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem (who is also a minister in the Justice Ministry and the Ministerial Liaison to the Knesset), Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, and Women’s Advancement and Social Equality Minister May Golan.
Members of other parties Economy Minister Nir Barkat (Economy); New Hope-United Right MK Ze’ev Elkin, a minister in the Finance Ministry and tasked with overseeing the rehabilitation of northern Israel and communities along the Gaza border; Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit), deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office; and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope-United Right).